Winter in Florida 2015

We’ll soon be leaving on our annual migration to Florida and will return mid March. This is always our favorite trip each year. We’ll be in Key West the entire month of February, and will be attending our coach club rally in New Orleans.
Here is a map of our trip:

An Amazing Find in Indianapolis

 

After a splendid day in Grand Haven, we left Lake Michigan behind and headed south to Indianapolis to visit George’s cousin Joe. Our campground was on the south side, so we stopped at a Walmart to meet and visit with Joe on the way in.

         

To our surprise we discovered that Indianapolis has an “urban state park” called White River State Park. It is located on the White River in the heart of downtown and has a zoo, two museums, and a military park. Possibly the most unusual and pleasing aspect of the park is the Indiana Central Canal. Work on the canal started in 1836 during the country’s canal building craze. It was intended to go all the way to Evansville where it would connect to the Ohio river, but the panic of 1837 caused it to go bust. Nonetheless, Indianapolis has done a wonderful job of incorporating it into an amazing urban landscape and state park. We had a fabulous day there riding the trails and visiting a museum.

We parked at the zoo and rode across the White River bridge.

        

We get our first look at the Indiana Central Canal. We will ride the trail along the river first, and then ride the canal.

         

From the zoo we rode about three miles to 16th street. Below we crossed Fall Creek in order to continue north along the White River.

                             

         

         

         

Here is the marvelous Indiana Central Canal that we will ride next.

         

We had lunch at the café in the Indiana History Center which is right on the canal.

         

After lunch we rode north along the canal to its terminus near the Indiana University School of Medicine.

         

         

         

         

On our return we were intrigued by this steam clock, one of a very few around the world. This one was built by Canadian horologist Raymond Saunders. It was quite loud when it sounded on the hour.

         

         

We hopped off our bikes at the Eiteljorg Museum that specializes in Native American and western art.

         

Nearly done for the day, we discovered that back on the other side of the White River there is a very nice trail with a good view of the city.

         

Here we see the huge Marriott hotel downtown.

         

A great day in amazing Indianapolis!

A Grand Day in Grand Haven

Our friends George and Jan, originally from Michigan, introduced us to Grand Haven on a previous trip to Michigan in 2009. With time for one stop in Michigan on the way home, we chose Grand Haven on the eastern shore of Lake Michigan.
We had one full day in Grand Haven, and it was a beautiful day after having rained the night before. We started our bike trip at the state park where we stayed before.  However, we were not able to get a reservation at the state park this time.
         
Grand Haven’s light house and jetty are a big attraction.
         
         
         
From the light house we rode the bike path along the Grand River into town. Improvements have been made in the path since we were here in 2009.  Attractive artwork adds interest to the trail, too.
         
         
                                
                                
There are several Sears and Roebuck kit houses in Grand Haven.
         
Tina naps as we head to Indianapolis the next day to visit George’s cousin Joe.
         

Sault Ste. Marie Ontario and back to the USA

 

Having completed the Lake Superior circle, our last stop on the tour was Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. We stayed at the KOA on the north side of town.

The first thing we wanted to do was bike on the water front where freighters pass through the international locks headed west to Lake Ontario, or east to Lake Huron.

         

         

         

         

Big freighters have to contend with small boats as they pass through the relatively narrow channel separating Canada from the U.S.

         

The trail has great views of all kinds of boats and is also attractively landscaped.

         

We returned another day with the group to visit the Bush Plane Museum.

         

George’s favorite bush plane is the workhorse de Havilland Otter.

         

          

          

We enjoyed a farewell dinner at a local restaurant. and then it was time to say goodbye to our travel partners and head back to the USA across the international bridge.

         

At St. Ignace we were happy to have another chance to cross the Mighty Mac as we headed for Grand Haven on Lake Michigan..

         

Wawa: Where Is That?

 

Leaving White River, we continued southeast to Wawa, located on the northeast side of Lake Superior.   Wawa in Ojibwa means “wild goose,” and 10,000 birds nest in this area.  The town’s 28-foot metal statue of a Canada goose is a landmark of the area.  Our Yankee RV Tour group had a photo made here.  George and Irene are on the left side, rows 1 and 2.

         

The visitor’s center was at this location and also a large model of an inukshuk, a stone construction used to mark the easiest path from this area to the arctic.  The larger stone figures are images of humans. 

                              

        

We visited Silver Falls, a small falls in the area,

         

and High Falls, a much larger falls.

                       

         

         

Not yet having seen any bears (which the group expressed a desire to see), our tour stopped by the local dump where this young fellow was having lunch.

                  

And then it was on to Young’s General Store, truly a place from the past.  It had a little bit of everything!  We got maple syrup and wild rice there.

         

This moose at the general store completed our wildlife adventure for the day.